Thursday, January 20, 2011

Nope, not Mardi Gras. And the Super Bowl has been canceled. But you there in the back, you are correct. Hogs for the Cause, the premier porkcentric cancer fighting charity is back and bigger than ever on March 26th at City Pork. Sign up your team today, you can win the adoration of millions.

To prep yourself for Hogs, how about two months worth of pork related recipes? You got it.

Braised Country Style Pork Ribs in Tomatillo Sauce

You probably see these in the supermarket all the time. Sometimes they are called country style ribs, other times boneless ribs. Fact is they are made out of pork and they are flipping delicious when braised in a sultry blend of chiles and tomatillos.

I want you to roast some peppers and tomatillos under a broiler until their skins darken and blister. I use one jalapeno and two serranos. Make sure to husk and rinse the tomatillos. Once you can handle the peppers, remove the stems, skin, and seeds. Toss the fruit of the peppers into a blender with the tomatillos, a tablespoon of chopped white onion (you will use the rest of the chopped onion in a moment), and a garlic clove. Add in a bit of water or stock to get the blender going. Puree until smooth. (I learned this trick from Skip Bayless's brother's incredible Mexico: One Plate at a Time.) Add the juice of one lime and stir.

I want you take that pack of boneless pork ribs and cut them into cubes. Now season them with salt and pepper. In a cast iron skillet or dutch oven, heat a 5 second glug of canola oil. When shimmering, add the cubes (do this in batches). Brown well on each side and remove. Do the next batch until all pork has been seared. Drain any excess fat. Add the remainder of your onion and saute for five minutes, scraping up all that delicious fond from the bottom of your pot.

Pour the green chile puree mixture into the pan, add a cup of stock, and return the pork to the pan. Stir to combine and then place, covered*, in a 275 degree oven for about 2 hours. Serve over yellow rice with a crisp green salad.

*When I braise things, I like to use a piece of parchment paper to cover over the food, a technique outlined in The French Laundry Cookbook. Many ways to do this, but the easiest is probably just to cut out a piece of parchment slightly smaller than the circumference of your pot. Then cut out a small section in the middle of this circle. Place over food.